


attractive (that's what you are)

by chanqqmin



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Aged-Down Character(s), Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - High School, Crushes, Dialogue Heavy, M/M, Minor Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Lee Sangyeon, Pining, Self-Indulgent, and younghoon who is borderline smart but lazy and shy because shy!younghoon is my reason to live, aspring model hyunjae, i dont know how to tag this lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27877910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanqqmin/pseuds/chanqqmin
Summary: "Frankly, I don't think I'm attractive," Hyunjae confessed, resting his cheek on his hand as he hummed to an anonymous melody that's been stuck in his head. Younghoon raised an eyebrow."Are you serious?" he questioned towards the older, who nodded with a thin-lipped smile playing on his lips."Yup," Hyunjae responded, popping the 'p'."Well for me—frankly—I think you're very attractive."/////Hyunjae doesn't think he's attractive—but Younghoon thinks otherwise.
Relationships: Kim Younghoon/Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	1. where it starts

**Author's Note:**

> **HYUNJAE IS OLDER THAN YOUNGHOON IN THIS FIC BY A YEAR (of course not because i just realised that hyunjae is a 97l not 96)
> 
> toothrottingly sweet! that's the warning lol

What's better than studying at peak two am on the day that your test would be taking place? For Younghoon, it was probably one of the situations he had gone through too many times to count—especially that he just entered high school only two years ago, making him technically a junior. In middle school, there was nothing to worry about; no really important tests that would determine your life career, no essays you have to rush and send in time in hopes to have a good grade, and—finally—no studying at two am in the morning also in hopes to somehow ace your test with your somewhat crush, who's almost half-asleep. He doesn't particularly know why Hyunjae is also at the library—okay perhaps he does have a hint from the Chemistry textbooks spread out in front of him.

("Is this seat occupied?" Hyunjae asked, pointing at the seat right next to Younghoon's own seat. Younghoon shook his head as a grin built up on Hyunjae's lips. "Well don't mind me taking it then!")

In normal circumstances, Younghoon, being the socially awkward boy he is, would never (read: never) approach Hyunjae—Hyunjae being a particular someone, who he has been crushing on for three—has it been three?—years, doesn't contribute to the fact that the particular boy is right now trying his best to concentrate on the materials in front of him. Younghoon found the sight almost adorable; though probably is normal as Younghoon did find the other ethereal in almost every angle and expression.

Hyunjae's eyelids were drooping as he tried his best to wake himself up with a jolt immediately to sit up every time his head would drop from the grasp of his propped up hand. Younghoon could see in the corner of his eye that the older was yawning slightly. Despite being in his senior year and having a plethora of exams that might determine his educational degree and career choice forever, Hyunjae had seemed way too calm about this—almost like with no care. What freaks out Younghoon the most is how the older still manages to ace his tests every single time—is this just a God-blessed gift or what?

Younghoon could only hope that'd also apply to himself as he doodled a small cat in the margin of his notebook's page before trying to concentrate on making notes of the textbook he's trying to read and memorise for his test. Remembering five pages worth of contents for this upcoming test would've been simply easier if he had used up the two weeks prior of the test when it was formally announced perfectly fourteen days ago; but screw that, past Younghoon decided perhaps grinding a few hours on playing games would've been a better use of his time—he seriously regrets that; and he also blames Sunwoo for being the boy who keeps constantly messaging him to play games with.

Younghoon does care about his education; he does care about his grades, and test results, and everything else a typical student should be caring about—if he didn't then he wouldn't even be at the current library he is right now in, studying till his hands were fatiguing from the note-taking and circular scribbles full of frustrations that made its display on the corner of his page. Some of his motivation of maintaining high grades perhaps came from the fact that he wanted to impress his parents, to see the smiles on their faces as they see Younghoon's test score results hitting the one-hundred percent mark—but doesn't every student want that too? He could make having high grades his own shtick, after all Younghoon was bland—perhaps awfully bland; he was nothing out of the ordinary except his side-hobby of sometimes singing at karaokes he'd go to with his friends or the compliments that would be given to him about his looks.

Younghoon sighed; he was getting offtopic from the studying material that he is supposed to be memorizing—drilling the information into his head till he could remember it word for word.

A comfortable silence hugged the atmosphere from between Younghoon and Hyunjae; though it does make sense that they were at minimal volume, they were in a local library, especially at two in the morning. No one was here to scold them even if they start shouting, but Younghoon still felt as if it would somehow be illegal if he started to start talking loudly—after all, being in a high volume in a library always seemed like an unwritten rule, or perhaps something that is drilled into his brain. Younghoon liked the vibe that was floating around them to speak in matters of fact; he liked the way that the air around them was calm and settling instead of being stuffy and suffocating with awkwardness and stiffness. Truth to be told, he was partially surprised that there hadn't been any small conversations that turned out to be awfully hard to maintain and with short replies. The occasional conversation held was the usual "Do you have a __ I can borrow?" or some weird thing that Hyunjae had found that piqued this curiosity as of recent—Younghoon found that trait of the older rather endearing; it was cute to see the other ramble on about things with the amount of amusement in his voice whilst Younghoon himself was scribbling on notes into his notebook. Though, the conversations had quietened down to just pure silence after the older became more sleepy with several yawns slipped between each sentence he had spoken.

That was until Hyunjae broke the peaceful noise-barrier to drop a statement that Younghoon wasn't expecting one bit.

"Frankly, I don't think I'm attractive," Hyunjae confessed, resting his cheek on his hand as he hummed to an anonymous melody that's been stuck in his head. The sudden confession was something he didn't expect to ever fly out of the older's mouth. Never. Younghoon raised an eyebrow as he stopped his pen from writing on the page in his notebook, surprised at the sudden output of honesty. Sudden statements were something that Hyunjae had done a few times within the last hour or two that they'd spent together in this godforsaken library but a sudden statement of  _ this _ topic? Younghoon is left speechless.

"Are you serious?" he questioned towards the older, who nodded with a thin-lipped smile playing on his lips.

"Yup," Hyunjae responded, popping the 'p'; the other's lack of hesitation made Younghoon slightly think that he was sincere—but he still can't somehow believe it. He blinked a few times in a certain fast rhythm whilst processing the response then creating a reply to the other.

"Well for me—frankly—I think you're attractive," Younghoon responded back, glancing up to the blonde—he wasn't being obvious about his crush, right? "Very attractive." Hyunjae let out a whine.

"You flatter me but seriously, just be honest with me—okay?" Hyunjae whispered in a soft tone, averting his eyes to somewhere else. Younghoon was frozen still—he does want to say that he's being truthful (maybe a little too truthful but he does find the older captivatingly attractive) but at the thought that Hyunjae, someone that is simply the world's finest human on this planet, is thinking this? Hyunjae looked up again to meet Younghoon's gaze before speaking, "I take your lack of response as you're lying. Thank you." The older’s emotions had instantly changed from one of enthusiasm and playfulness to a sorrowful one.

Younghoon frantically shook his head in a panic—that isn't what he intended! "No! Seriously, 'am not. I think you're attractive—and that you should be confident in that! I don't know what made you into thinking this but I don't like it. In my eyes, you're seriously so gorgeous," Younghoon slightly rambled, furrowing his eyebrows as every word passed out from his lips. He could see the other biting his lips at the response.

"Your gay is showing a bit," Hyunjae joked around; his eyes were curled into pretty crescents like the moon during its cycle, turning from a full moon to slices then back to the glory of the full shape. Younghoon also laughed a bit before he stopped when the other started to speak again.

"But," Hyunjae started to speak again; Younghoon's full attention was on the older—fuck studying, that comes second. There was some slight hesitation before the continuation with some flickering of Hyunjae's eyes from place to place throughout the library. "Well, okay. I went to a modelling audition recently—do you call them that?” Hyunjae looked up to Younghoon for confirmation.

“Yeah; I believe so,” Younghoon responded back; he was curious. There wasn't anyone who didn't know that Hyunjae had the knack and dedication to become a model—no one. The mention of a modelling audition doesn't come as a surprise; but why is the older bringing the topic of unattractiveness alongside an audition that he had attended? Younghoon's mind had clicked to one outcome but he was sure it wasn't true. To fulfil his curiosity, he spoke, “continue?” Hyunjae nodded at the request, opening his mouth before a long string of words started to flow out.

“I went to a modelling audition—a clothing line company was looking for a model and I thought 'well,  _ fuck _ , this is my chance right? It's now or never.’! I always wanted to become a model. You know that–'' Younghoon nodded along, listening to every word that came out of the other’s mouth. Hyunjae’s eyes were sparkling with frustration and mixed with the dash of sadness when telling his story; it made Younghoon slightly nervous about what had happened that day.

“So I went to the auditorium that they held the audition at, and there were so many people. It was insane, literally insane at how many people were waiting to go on the stage, try to please the judges, and then hope to make it through the first phase of the audition." There was a hesitance—a pause—before Hyunjae carried on, "My turn came on. I tried to walk as great as I can—y'know? You gotta have to walk down those catwalks if you're a model for a clothing line and well just before I could introduce myself after the small show I had on, I was instantly cut out." Younghoon felt himself sucking in a sharp inhale at the last sentence; his heartfelt as if it stopped beating.

"Bam, woosh! You're not fit to be a model—sorry!” Hyunjae tried to imitate the story with actions of his hands and using a voice that seemed to signify a woman. "Then after that I was confused—what was I lacking? Visuals? Charisma?" he started to question himself, exaggerating his hand motions before pointing at his face. "What am I lacking?"

“You’re lacking nothing,” Younghoon tried to reassure the older, putting down his pen that he was writing with on the table. The quiet study session that he had decided to hold at the wee hours of the morning had turned to something way more emotional than he had expected. Hyunjae had darted his eyes away as Younghoon noticed the older’s fingers started to fidget with each other.

“If I’m lacking nothing, then why was I cut out like that? Why didn’t they accept me?” Hyunjae retorted back; his voice was now only in hushed whispers. Younghoon bit his lips—how is he supposed to reply? The emotional state of the blonde, who was in front of him, is devastating him. “There’s gotta be a reason right?” Hyunjae added on; something about the other’s body language made Younghoon uneasy—he was always someone who seemed to over-emphasise with people in these kinds of situations; but in this case, he doesn’t know how to reply; he didn’t know how to word his thoughts and feelings to Hyunjae and try to comfort the older. Something clicked in his brain.

“Th-there might be something that they were seeking for but maybe you don’t have it—though that’s not a bad thing! Everyone has their own unique charms and perhaps the company was looking for a specific one; perhaps your own charm will catch another company’s eyes one day,” Younghoon blabbered out. By the looks of Hyunjae lifting his head up to look back at Younghoon’s eyes, it seemed like he had said the right thing.

“I guess so.” The reaction seemed in the middle of positive and negative; though it does seem to lean on the positive. Now it is time to carry on and try to lighten up the mood as much as possible; a light bulb appeared on the top of Younghoon’s head.  _ Shoot your shot. _

“Hey, how about I prove it to you?” Younghoon suggested with a toothy smile; Hyunjae only stayed silent with an eyebrow up with curiosity flashing in his eyes. “I’ll show how attractive you are,” Younghoon continued on, humming slightly.

“Yeah?” Hyunjae responded; his eyes were focusing on Younghoon’s own pair as they locked eye contact.

“Go out with me for a month; I’ll show you." The confidence that was overflowing Younghoon was almost as if he had always had this kind of aura to him—he felt as if he's at the top of the world with the amount that was radiating from his body, but in reality, he's probably the shyest boy ever. Perhaps it was the late morning hours and the brain-dead mind that's making him say all these things without an ounce of fear evident—is this his hidden alter-ego he had never shown before? The Younghoon, who has all the confidence in the world and is occupying the body of the lanky boy Younghoon, had marked this conversation as to be the one to finally do a move on the day-mode-Younghoon's long-term crush! He could feel the after-regrets of himself in the morning but decided to push it to the side as he watched Hyunjae freeze for a second.

And to his surprise, a nod at the offer.

  
  
  



	2. consulting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's the first thing you do when you suddenly find yourself in a situation where you all of a sudden did a braindead life choice at two in the morning? Of course, it is to consult your local Sangyeon™.

Younghoon's brain felt as if it was to die—he had just gotten out of the exam hall where he had just taken his test and finished it a few mere minutes ago, and now is walking out of it and down the stairs to the general lounge area for the students. Younghoon's brain felt as if it was deep-fried and grilled on a griller and if Younghoon's brain wasn't dead enough earlier this morning, then it was more now. After his braindead decision to ask Hyunjae out for thirty days earlier today, Younghoon had fled off out of the library with his stuff back to his house, where it was pitch dark with no lights on, then got scolded by his own mother for being out for so late and not to do it again.

He had agreed with his mother—his brain in the wee hours of the morning had proven itself to not have function excellently. Excellently in Younghoon's own thinking anyways—never in his entire life would he have done a move so bold as that as to ask his long-term crush out to ' _ prove his attractiveness _ '. Was it dumb? Yes! Thinking back, Younghoon regretted it—of course, it was not that he was going to quote-unquote 'dating' (if you could call it that) his crush, but it was as of the condition of thirty days. Younghoon knew that it would either end horribly—incredibly horribly like when he got rejected and played on by his crush in middle school—or really well with Hyunjae being his boyfriend even  _ after  _ the whole ordeal. Nope; he is just delusional.

Younghoon grumbled as he took another sip of his coffee before dropping his entire body weight onto the chair, of which his upperclassman—Sangyeon—was sitting across. Sensing Younghoon's arrival, Sangyeon placed whatever book he was reading down onto the table and glanced over with the usual piercing eyes that seemed to be coated with warm, summer-like feel to them; Sangyeon's gaze, in Younghoon's opinion, both omitted the feeling of intimidation and also the warmth—he found it crazy but it was simply the charm of the older.

"You okay?" Sangyeon asked, looking up and down at Younghoon's fatigued, slumped posture before locking their eyes. The volume in the room was deafening—the speaking and chattering and laughter of the students in the room was making Younghoon feel even more tired; he often couldn't deal well with loud sounds. Younghoon only grumbled again, finishing up his coffee with another sip and then putting it to the side on the table.

"Do I look okay?" Younghoon reflected back the question before he straightened his posture and stretched before leaning forwards to place his arm up and perch his chin in his hand. Sangyeon shook his head.

"Obviously not; you have literal bags underneath your eyes," the elder pointed out the obvious, skimming his eyes over Younghoon's eye bags; they symbolised Younghoon's sleepless nights as of recent. Without the amount of green tea and caffeine drinks he had been chugging the last few days, Younghoon doubted that he would still be standing right now with eyes open and not drooping down.

"Well yeah, there's that," Younghoon responded, tapping his fingers in a rhythmic beat on the concrete table and humming a soft song underneath his breath. He added, "and there's another thing." He could see Sangyeon's eyebrows perk up, signalling the older's sudden curiosity at what Younghoon had said.

"Care to mention?" Younghoon nodded at the question before letting out a short exhale. His eyes flicked over to the coffee cup he had put aside, trying to think how he would word out what had happened earlier this morning. 

"Yeah, for sure—literally you're the only one who I can talk to about this without hardcore clowning me or something," Younghoon stated before stopping his tapping and switching to draw soothing circles with his index finger on top of the table's surface. Sangyeon laughed at what Younghoon had said; Younghoon moved his eyes to look at Sangyeon. 

"Where's the lie in that?" Sangyeon joked with a wide grin playing on his lips, leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms. His eyes were shaped into crescents, following another set of laughter.

"There's no lie in that—never been so sure if I said this to Chanhee or someone else, I would be clowned so fucking hard I swear," Younghoon complained, angrily—yet kiddingly—stomping his foot on the hard, concrete floor beneath them, just like a raging toddler.

Sangyeon let out a few more wheezes before speaking, "anyways could you now please tell me your 'other thing'?" Younghoon let out an exaggerated sigh before nodding his head, bopping them up and down.

"Yeah—so like, you know Hyunjae?" Younghoon asked, watching as the older's eyebrows perk up again at the mention of a name. Both of them—Sangyeon and Hyunjae—were both in the same grade so perhaps it was a bit silly for Younghoon to ask. 

"Don't tell you did something stupid," Sangyeon spoke with a grin on his lips; his head was tilted to one side with amusement clear with a flash in his eye. Shaking his head, Younghoon buried his face in both of his hands, massaging the side of his head in a soothing manner.

"Depends on what you consider stupid; because for me, yes this is so stupid—I swear to god," Younghoon cursed under his breath; the feeling the regret building up again at just the thought of what he had done or perhaps  _ said _ . "This shouldn't even be a big thing but I'm really just overreacting," he further added on, peaking his eyes just right above the tip of his fingers and meeting Sangyeon's gaze that was almost digging holes into him, curious for more information.

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. Okay, I'm just gonna stop beating around the bush and go straight to the point: I asked Hyunjae out," Younghoon blurted it in one go with one short, simple sentence. Sangyeon's mouth only stayed as hung open as the older boy blinked rapidly to process the information.

"You did what now–? Holy shit, congratulations; are you guys a thing now?" Sangyeon asked in a hasty manner, spitting out question after question. Younghoon lifted a hand at the other's face to stop Sangyeon from talking, then a look of realization came on. "Oh my god– was the stupid thing you confessing? Did you get rejected? Oh my god, I'm really sorry—fuck!"

"Jesus Christ listen to me for a second," Younghoon whispered in a hushed tone, but loud enough to be heard over the loud volume of the room—perhaps it wasn't even considered as whispering anymore. With just one sentence, it had efficiently closed Sangyeon's mouth and the waterfall of questions that was falling out. Younghoon sighed for the nth time today before continuing to speak, "I don't know how to necessarily  _ explain  _ what happened—okay wait I can. To put it in simple terms for your brain to understand," Younghoon started, raising his eyebrows as Sangyeon did the opposite as he frowned and pointing at his head. Younghoon let out a laugh. "I kind of asked Hyunjae out but like— okay uh. Like he was getting.. rather low in self-esteem about his looks so I guess my three-am brain, which—I should let you know—is the worst thing to ever exist because it sucks, was like ' _ oh yes! Let's shoot my shot!'  _ so I was like ' _ hey go out with me for a month and  _ I'll  _ show you how great you are!'  _ and that is what happened and lead to this certain event of me sitting across you talking about this  _ shit  _ because I am confused—and also you know what's even worse? He said yes! So in terms, he and I are going out," Younghoon rambled in long sentences without any full stops to end the sentences and constantly continuing with ' _ and's _ . Sangyeon only nodded along, listening to each word that came spluttering out of the younger's mouth.

"That's strangely funny if I were, well, to be honest about this entire ordeal," Sangyeon responded after Younghoon stopped speaking to look up to the older (and probably wiser) one with eyes that said ' _ please say something?'.  _ Sangyeon's eyebrows rose, "What? I'm being fully honest," he reassured Younghoon with a smile playing on his lips as the younger leaned forward to bring his hands up to cover his face in distress. A few students that walked by stared at him weirdly; perhaps they thought that Younghoon was stressing over his exams (and how wrong that they are wrong with their assumption!).

"I was expecting some good advice from you," Younghoon stated as his words came out in muffles from his covered mouth. His eyes piqued out slightly a bit from above his hands as he watched as the upperclassman shrugged with a teasing smirk.

"I think the problem here is you being a pussy." The last word that ended the sentence with a unique touch made Younghoon wrinkled his nose. A pussy? Him?  _ Kim Younghoon?  _ Sangyeon seemed to catch onto Younghoon's ongoing train of thought as he laughed, "You're thinking about you being a pussy, aren't you? I mean not figuratively but I know we both know that—but what are you scared for? You said 'shoot your shot' right? Might as well—what could go wrong really?" Sangyeon's head cocked to his side as while a waterfall of questions ending with question marks and tone going up at every sentence came out of his mouth. Younghoon thought for a bit before shaking his head.

"A lot of things can go wrong. For example, my feelings! My delusional ass!" Younghoon screamed out but in a hushed tone: a screaming whisper, if that even a thing. His hands fell from his face, where it was covering his entire facial features just a few seconds ago, to let fall on the table in a dramatic manner. Sangyeon for the nth time today let out a laugh at what the other had said—was it really that amusing?

" Just see how this month goes," Sangyeon stated as if a matter of fact. The pressure of under the older's eyes, that seemed to exert an amount of comfortable warmth yet piercing ice that felt like daggers trying to break through your skin, made Younghoon felt uneasy before biting his lips. Then Sangyeon spoke up before Younghoon even had the chance to answer, "Well, speaking of the devil! Guess who is walking towards us."

Younghoon's head rapidly perked up, using his eyes to scan around the space around them. A familiar blob of blonde hair with dark brown roots was getting closer to them, shuffling along with the crowds of other dark-haired heads—it's almost like  _ his  _ hair stood out the most (which it should as it is blonde, not brown or black like the majority of the student body). Swearing under his breath, Younghoon gained a raise of his eyebrow from Sangyeon as he quickly pulled out his phone from the pocket of his school uniform's pants and pretended to be scrolling down his social media timeline, casually. He could hear a scoff from Sangyeon across his table; the older picked up the book he was reading prior to Younghoon's entrance to the table and began to read it.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Hyunjae approaching before he could almost  _ feel  _ the other's eyes on him, burning on the side of his head. And then there he was, standing at Younghoon's side as Younghoon pretended to not have noticed as he continued to scroll further his Twitter timeline, liking the occasional tweet of Sunwoo flexing a win on a game.

A poke on his shoulder as Younghoon looked up to Hyunjae's uncertain eyes. His hand was resting on Younghoon's shoulder as he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out—was Hyunjae as scared (or perhaps even nervous) as Younghoon? Sangyeon also peaked up from his book, glancing over the table at the scene that was unfolding.

"Uhm." Finally, some sort of noise came from Hyunjae's mouth as he darted his eyes towards Sangyeon, whom he slightly recognized, to Younghoon.

"Yeah?" Younghoon beckoned for Hyunjae to continue speaking in the most confident and non-wavering voice he could muster, closing his Twitter application and putting it away from his phone as if he totally didn't just get it out a minute ago to look composed and somewhat busy in the older's perspective.

"We're.. dating," Hyunjae spoke with the uncertainty back again. His voice trailed off slightly before saying their  _ status _ . A few stares were coming their way now of the magic word 'dating'—screw freshmen and their ongoing curiosity of things that aren't their business, Younghoon thought.

However, _ 'We're dating'. _

Younghoon slightly liked to hear that and could not  _ not  _ admit that he felt something flutter in his own chest at the sound of that.

"We're dating and I don't have your number?" Younghoon's mouth formed an 'o' as Hyunjae popped out the question. Before their small little huddle at the library earlier this morning where it had all started, Younghoon hadn't ever conversed with the older outside of the casual talk and 'hello's in the hallways whenever they pass by each other; they had never ever exchanged numbers before.

"Oh, oh! Yeah, wait; give me a second," Younghoon mumbled out, pulling out the phone he had only put away a few mere seconds ago before entering his contacts app; he had the 'new contact' tab up with the keyboard open at the slot that said 'enter the number' before handing it over to the other. Hyunjae had accepted the phone to hold in his own grasp before tapping his pretty—according to what Younghoon thinks—fingers on the screen and handing it back.

【CONTACT INFORMATION】

name: lee hyunjae

number: xxx-xxxx-xxxx

ringtone: default

CALL LOG: - - - 

"There we go," Hyunjae's voice returned to the enthusiastic, happy-going tone that Younghoon had familiarised himself with for so long. Younghoon nodded too before clicking save at the bottom of the page to save the newfound information inputted in his phone. "So uh." Then the awkward tension came back—remember when Younghoon had mentioned about how they both had a comfortable atmosphere around them that didn't feel so suffocating to be in during their mini library session before it all happened? Perhaps right now was the complete opposite of that; it wasn't too uncomfortable per se to the point where Younghoon was fidgety and needed an escape out, but rather where both don’t have a clue on what to do but not really wanting to escape but to stay and remove the awkward tension that's making the air around them stuffy.

_ 'Go out with me for a month and I'll show you how attractive you are.'  _ Ah, right—Younghoon was doing this entire dating thing to prove Hyunjae how  _ attractive  _ he is. 

"What's your last class? I'll pick you up," Younghoon's words flowed naturally out of his mouth as the question came out as if normal. Hyunjae's startled reaction made Younghoo wonder if he had said the wrong thing. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Sangyeon's lips to form out to puff like when whistling, with wriggling eyebrows and corners of lips curling up to form an all-knowing smirk.

"In the science building. I have biology in the room SCI-403," Hyunjae mumbled out—the newfound look of nervous Hyunjae was something that Younghoon haven't faced a lot. The older always to radiate confidence wherever he went. Perhaps it is because they are now under the dating status? Younghoon thinks so.

"Great, I'll see you there?" Younghoon responded back to which Hyunjae had nodded his head before looking down to his wristwatch to check the time. His expression had morphed into one of panic.

"Sorry, oh my god. I didn't watch the time and I'm gonna be late to my class; I'll see you after school," Hyunjae talked in rapid-fire words before scrambling then dashing off, leaving behind Younghoon, who only had his eyebrows up at the sudden exit, and Sangyeon, who had a teasing smirk that was apparent on his lips. 

  
  



	3. cafés and coffees (tea too!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if school description gets a bit hard to understand,, all of my school aus are based off the current school i am in because ive never attended any other scholl than the one im in; any questions about specifics do ask me because i don't really mind
> 
> chapter might be a little bit sweet,, i dumped the entire sugar bag in

He thought about it again as he walked down the stairs of the languages building, towards the second floor. He had just had his end-of-the-day English literature class with his favourite teacher and is now about to step foot down just a floor to the foreign languages department. _Is this all real?_ The ongoing thought echoed in his mind as he whisked past chatting students, who were hanging around their lockers. 

After his exams and also his encounter with Hyunjae, which made him earn the older's number, he had just had a free period—which is also technically named as 'study period' but Younghoon used it to laze around more than anything—that he had used to the fullest of its extent by taking another power nap in the seniors studies building (which is _also_ incorrectly named as it is technically for _both_ seniors and juniors—his school is kind of wack) to rest his brain. Upon waking up, he does feel more refreshed about his state but not neccesarily his thoughts. 

His mind was going in the full circle of ' _am I actually dating_ the _Lee Hyunjae?'_ then to _'no way this is serious; maybe the guy is joking and we're not really dating.'_ and then to an end of _'holy fuck but he did say himself like a few hours ago that we were dating so we_ are _dating_ dating _.. for real!'_. His mind is going through the steps like those steps on one of those infographic websites that has ' _five steps of acceptance'_ as the page title. 

_Denial._

_Anger._

_Bargaining._

_Depression._

_Acceptance._

But perhaps remove everything in between denial and acceptance, and also add in a 'questioning' stage before the denial and then ta-da! That is Younghoon's thinking cycle.

The warm air of the outside washed over Younghoon as he stepped out of the languages building and into the hallway—which explicitly doesn't have a name to it but on the second floor of the hallway it's the computing hallway but then on the third floor it's the English hallway because apparently the English department eats both the normla area in the languages building on the third floor and yet still needs more space in the hallway; yet again, Younghoon's school is quite wack—, where it wasn't air-conditioned. Contrasting to the warm tones of the languages building that he had just stepped out of, the hallway was made out of cool blues, purples and greens; the floor was a marble-like grey tiling and the walls were dark blue. The spaces on the walls between each door to entrance of classrooms were lockers, where there were some students gathering their items or just some who were putting things in and then walking away before locking it shut with the numpad lock that the school provided for each locker. 

Younghoon took a sharp right towards the bridge that connected the hallway to the science building, walking slightly more and passing a teacher, whom he bowed to out of respect, that was just exiting the staff room for the computing department. Another auto-slide door was in front of him as he waited it to open at a speed that he found excitingly pretty slow before walking into the cold building; for some particular reason, the science building—or as named, 'science centre'—was always at a freezing cold temperature that would send goosebumps to his arms. It had contrasted the warm air of the computing hallway, where it was un-airconditioned. However, the cold temperature didn't mind him as the thought of him picking up Hyunjae at _Hyunjae's_ classroom made him slightly warm inside; cliché, Younghoon would say but neccesarily in this case he feels like his heart is beating way too fast for his liking—he felt like a show's protagonist who had won their crush's heart over and now is doing all sorts of domestic stuff with the so-mentioned crush. He means, it wasn't entirely false is it? Erase the 'win the heart over' and then it would all technically make sense and is true. 

Wait, where was he supposed to be heading to again? Right—SCI-403.

Hyunjae does biology for his IB? The floor Younghoon was at was the science centre's second floor: Chemistry. Somehow, the royal blue and teal greens had perfectly fitted the image of what colour Chemistry should be as Younghoon was used to associating the calm colour to the subject. Further into the room was the spiral staircase that led up further the building; if he wanted to go to SCI-403, he'll have to climb a few more flights of stairs. 

On the third floor was a raging red to resemble Physics. Younghoon doesn't take physics for his IB so he doesn't frequent here often; the space was unfamiliar to the boy but he doesn't put a mind to it as he walked further up the stairs towards the fourth floor. A few other students, who he recognized as upperclassmen a year older than him, passed by him on the way down. He flashed a soft smile to them as they nodded their heads in acknowledgement before Younghoon continued to step up. 

And there it is—in all its glory—the biology floor. Younghoon had taken biology in his IGCSE because he was interested in the concept of _GMO_ but had dropped it in his IB because of reasons that he'd prefer to do visual arts more than sciences as that was what he liked more (more to the disappointment of his parents who wanted him to go towards a STEM path). 

The first thing he noticed when he had stepped up the last step was a small aquarium tank—perhaps two or three metres in length and a four or five metres high—with small labels stuck on the side to recognize what each fish in the tank was. Younghoon squinted his eyes from where he was to read the labels before looking away and immediately spotting Hyunjae amidst some other students, chatting ethusiastically with hand gestures everywhere. There was occasionally a laugh or a smile implemented in between each speech with eyebrows rose when listening to the other party.

Younghoon decided not to disturb so he simply took a seat in the breakout area and began to spectate from afar as students began to empty out and Hyunjae and the other student was left. Younghoon's plan was to pick up Hyunjae from the older's classroom—as he is doing right now—then perhaps drop to go to a café that he often liked to frequent after school, hoping that Hyunjae would like it too.

Bowing a goodbye at a classmate, now it was only Hyunjae remaining infront of the classroom as the classmate, who he had just conversed with, bidded his goodbyes and went the other way. The older was about to go down the stairs too until he had caught Younghoon's eyes. 

"Hey," Hyunjae called out, walking from towards, where the stairwell was, to where Younghoon was sitting before plopping himself right next to him. "What brings you here?" There was a pause then Hyunjae's face lit up and he began to spoke before Younghoon could, "Oh yeah! You said you were going to pick me up." A few chuckles came out of Hyunjae's mouth as Younghoon nodded. 

"Yeah," Younghoon responded back, dragging out the 'eah' for a second or two before continuing, "Are you free after school?" 

"Erm." Hyunjae thought for a bit as he leaned further back onto the sofa-chair before propping up an arm on the backrest of the chair and then resting his face on it; he was turned towards Younghoon and _now_ they were maintaining eye contact. "Yeah, I think so. Why?" 

"I know this café near the school; you wanna go?" Younghoon suggested whilst Hyunjae scrunched his nose for a bit before nodding. The older stood up and stretched with his arms in the air before turning around and starting to go towards the spiral staircase. 

"Yeah, let's go." 

🌺

The bells ringed as both Younghoon and Hyunjae entered through the door, flashing a smile at the cashier; the line was empty and the atmosphere was quiet with little to no people seated in the chairs in the café. 

"Do you go here often?" Hyunjae asked as his eyes skimmed through the small menu above him, reading through the options. 

"Yeah—I don't even deny that sometimes when I'm so done with school I literally skip the last few periods of the day and come here just to drink some hot tea or something," Younghoon admitted as he laughed nervously, whilst saying his order to the cashier as the female writed his order down on a plastic cup.

"I see," Hyunjae replied shortly as he also recounted his order too to the cashier. "I'll pay," Hyunjae added further on, pulling out his wallet. Stopping the older's hand, Younghoon shook his head with a small smile on his lips. 

"It's fine; my friend works here and I get a discount. I'll pay for it," Younghoon reassured before magically pulling out a few bank notes and giving it to the cashier then walking off hand-in-hand dragging Hyunjae to the window seat he frequents. 

"Your friend?" Hyunjae inquired, raising an eyebrow as he took a seat, taking off his backpack and putting it below the coffee table next to his feet. Younghoon nodded his head followed by a smile. 

"Yup," Younghoon replied, leaning backwards to rest his back.

He watched as Hyunjae took a quick look of around the café from where the other was sitting from, staring from the entrance that had two gigantic pots of plants on each side of the door, to seats at the opposite of the room, where they were sitting, that had colourful, lively plants with flowers that showcased a spectrum of colours.

"This is a really nice place, huh," Hyunjae stated, putting his eyes longer on the collection of flowers at the other side of the room to admire the display before returning his attention back to Younghoon. "I fairly like flowers, and plants, and nature in general, to be honest; I like it very much here." Hyunjae flashed a smile as Younghoon felt relieved; it was a good decision to bring Hyunjae here after all. 

"Younghoon-ssi! Two drinks finished!" a shout echoed through the entire shop as Younghoon lifted himself from his chair to go collect their beverages. He excused himself before going to collect them. Whilst picking them up, he locked eyes with someone whom he was familiar with. 

"Ah, Juyeon," he spoke out at the very moment that they had built eye contact; Juyeon was someone that Younghoon had familiarised with throughout the last several months that he frequented the cafe, and to also add in the addition that Sunwoo—the friend that Younghoon had mentioned that worked at the place and the one who provided him the discount for all drinks—was also close to the younger.

Juyeon stifled down a laugh as he cocked his head and pointed towards Hyunjae, who was still sitting and fidgeting with his fingers as he stared around the place. 

"What?" Younghoon questioned, gripping on the two drinks. Juyeon looked as if he was trying his best not to laugh out loud—tight lips with a small curve at each end to show how hard it was to maintain a poker-face. 

Eventually, after a few seconds, Juyeon calmed down and was able to speak normally without giggles and chuckles pouring out of his lips.

Who is he?" Juyeon asked, crossing his arms with a smile on his lips filled with mischief; it had made Younghoon slightly nervous and thrown-off. The younger then paused before chuckling, "Ah don't tell me that he's your boyfriend? What happened to the ' _Hyunjae-hyung_ ' that you always mentioned?" Juyeon teased before feigning surprise. 

"That's Hyunjae right there," Younghoon pointed and this time Juyeon genuinely seemed confused.

"I thought you were like— what? On this weird territory between strangers and acquaintances? You suddenly invited him to a café date or something?" Juyeon mumbled, rambling on with questions that seemed to flow out without a stop. Full-stops never seemed to appear at least once at all during Juyeon's questioning session, with his eyebrows raised up in curiosity and head titled to one side at a shallow angle. 

Sighing and effectively suddenly stopping Juyeon speaking further, Younghoon started to reply, "Well–" 

He was cut off by an abrupt _"JUYEON, COME BACK! WE NEED YOU TO MAKE DRINKS,"_ as to which Juyeon turned around to face another person with a red-face.

"Ah fuck," Juyeon cursed underneath his breath before shouting back a "OKAY!" Hastily, he turned around to Younghoon before leaning in and whispering, "tell me later okay? You have my number," and then walking off to manage the coffee machine, fondling with the many cups that had built up within a small period of time. 

Watching as Juyeon's back was now turned to him, he hid a small smile at the younger's adorable curiosity—was it weird to find a wholeass big teenager adorable?—before turning around with the cups in his hand to Hyunjae's curious gaze staring back at him. 

As soon as Younghoon had placed down the two beverages—hot green tea for himself and whilst a cold latté for Hyunjae—and sat himself down, Hyunjae questioned Younghoon, "was that your friend?" 

Younghoon shook his head, making Hyunjae confused but before the older of the two could pitch in another question, Younghoon spoke up, "not the one that gives me the discount at least. He's a friend who I made through visiting this café though the friend, who gave me the discount, is a friend since middleschool days– and coincidentally the same one that nearly made me flunk the test," Younghoon joked around in a non-serious manner. The thought of Sunwoo spamming his messages inbox on Discord made him slightly smiley; he was glad that Sunwoo got a part-time job a few months back—it had two perks of there was a whole four hours each week that Sunwoo wasn't bothering him and also the fact that free discounts at the café. It couldn't get any better than that. 

"Flunk?" Hyunjae questioned the word before reaching out to get his cup, taking a small sip before putting it down. "Damn, that's good." 

Younghoon hummed in agreement before responding to Hyunjae's earlier inquiring statement, "flunk is literally the word. Guy distracted me to play PUBG and Valorant for hours to the point I couldn't focus on actual studying; hence I fled to the library that day." Hyunjae nodded along to Younghoon's small explanation, resting his head on his propped up hand. 

"Sound like a fun yet troublesome guy," Hyunjae pitched in with a small grin on his lips. Thinking for a second, Younghoon laughed. 

"Oh for sure, no doubt," he replied back, affirmative on the statement about Sunwoo. _Troublesome_ was—and is—an understatement. 

There was a small silence between them as Younghoon lifted the cup to try a sip of his drink before quickly pulling away with his lips scalding at the hot tea. A question popped up in his mind. 

"About the relationship," Younghoon started off and instantly got Hyunjae's attention as the older's head immediately tilted up to meet eyes. He continued, "are you serious about it?" 

There was no pause before Hyunjae started speaking, "whatever this is—if we're boyfriends—is absolutely real, yeah," a pause, "why?" 

Unlike Hyunjae, Younghoon spent a few seconds thinking of how he should respond. _Because I genuinely like you and it's scary because I don't know if you're taking this seriously?_ Younghoon can't say that—no way. 

"I was.. simply curious," Younghoon mumbled back, gaining a raise of an eyebrow from Hyunjae. Younghoon added further before trailing off at the last word, "and I wasn't sure if you were kidding last night—or rather early morning." His tone was rather quiet, only for Hyunjae to hear. At the corner of his eyes, he could see Juyeon glancing at their way. 

"I see," Hyunjae responded back quickly before reassuring, "I'm taking this seriously; you don't have to worry. I'm genuinely curious also what you have to show me for the next thirty days to come—y'know—after all that talk last morning," there was a slight break that it was clear that Hyunjae had the intention to speak a little bit more, "a little embarassed I vented to you about all of that though. Was a bit emotional." 

"It's fine," Younghoon replied shortly before figuring out that he should say more, "what I said last night was also all completely true, though. I think you just have a unique flare to you, eventually you'll be casted right? Maybe that agency didn't want you but I sure there's many others that potentially do." 

Hyunjae had his eyes and face averted away towards the window, with the lower half of his face covered with his propped up hand. His eyelashes was highlighted with a golden-yellow colour by the sunbeams from outside. "Thank you," Hyunjae whispered back.

Feeling brave, Younghoon lifted a hand to grab Hyunjae's other idle hand before also muttering back, "you're welcome."

None of them said anything whilst Hyunjae was deep in thought; Younghoon idly played with the other's fingers with his hand before lacing them together. 

"Do you mind if I ask another question?" Younghoon spoke up, watching as Hyunjae looked back at Younghoon with one simple nod, showing confirmation. Clearing his throat quickly, he added further on, "how far is this relationship?" 

Hyunjae's eyes widened before curving into crescents as he laughed, "as far as you are comfortable with. I'm okay with everything—we're now boyfriends, aren't we? Until this thirty days ends," Hyunjae pointed out, squeezing slightly in Younghoon's hands as Younghoon tensed up at the sudden action. 

"Yeah– ah fuck, it's six already," Younghoon cursed underneath his breath, looking at his phone lit-up screen. He glanced over to Hyunjae who patiently waited for an explanation. With a sheepish smile on his face, Younghoon excused himself quickly and pulling away from their enterlocked hands, "I have to tutor someone today I'm sorry–" 

"It's okay!" Hyunjae reassured, gathering his stuff and standing up, catching up with Younghoon at the exit of the café with his latté in his hand. "I'll walk you home." 

There was a slight skip in Younghoon's heartbeat as he smiled back before turning away from their eye contact— _this really is what main protagonists in k-dramas feel, huh?_ He could feel Hyunjae's own hand slipping through his own as Hyunjae once again squeezed Younghoon's hand in a reassuring way. 

"Boyfriend duties," Hyunjae spoke up, angling his head forward to see Younghoon slightly with a red tint on his cheeks. Cooing, Hyunjae began swinging their hands, "aw, you're blushing." 

Could heartbeat go to about a thousand? Was that possible? Younghoon's heart felt like it was going to explode, he thought. Is it going to? 

"Yeah," Younghoon mumbled back in a muffled voice, using his hand, which was still holding onto his cup of hot tea, to cover his face slightly. Hyunjae let out a laugh, facing forwards to the path as a breeze came by. 

"Where is your house? Or apartment? Condo?" Hyunjae asked, humming quietly though it was muffled by the strong winds going at them; curse being in the winter season, Younghoon thought. From a few snippets, it wasn't hard to see that Hyunjae had a good sense of tone. 

"House—I live alone," Younghoon answered admittedly before continuing, "it's around this corner." 

"Wow, your house really isn't that far away," Hyunjae spoke out loud as they rounded the corner that Younghoon was speaking about.

Nodding but then realising that Hyunjae was looking at him, Younghoon responded with a "yep".

Hyunjae squeezed Younghoon's hand again—as if Hyunjae was a fan of squeezing hands?—before asking another question, "also what about tutoring? Who do you tutor?" 

"Eric—don't think you'd know him though. He's in his last year of middleschool this year I think," Younghoon answered simply, looking up to the sky to think. Eric is fourteen this year, right?

"Foreigner?" Hyunjae inquired as he eyed the car that drove by at an alarming speed, muttering something underneath his breath along the lines of "fuck dangerous drivers". 

"Yeah! His real name is Sohn Youngjae but I think he likes to be referred as Eric—that's what he told me at least," Younghoon stated, swinging their arms once again as Hyunjae easily went along with it. The older's hands were oddly warm, especially when they were both outside in the midst of strong winds (but still somehow a pretty-bright sun), but Younghoon doesn't question it. 

"I see. Where is your house?" Hyunjae asked the question again as they neared a street where only houses and convenient stores laid on both sides. Younghoon halted his footsteps as Hyunjae also stopped with a surprised look on his face. 

"This one," Younghoon pointed towards the house on the left of them. Painted with a light blue on the outer walls but contrasted dark-coloured, brown wooden door, the house looked well-cared for and nurtured. Hyunjae stared up and down of it. 

"I see," he said once again before letting go off their hands then facing Younghoon with a bright smile. A puff of condensation came from his mouth as he said his good bye, "I'll see you later? You have my number right?" Younghoon nodded

"Take care on your way home!" Younghoon shouted back as Hyunjae started to trek back, getting his phone out to what seemed like Google Maps. 

"I will~" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why did this chapter feel like it took so long to write ww?? i wrote this entire chapter through like two whole months


End file.
